--- name: auto-continue description: "Auto-continue through todos with idle detection and safety gates. Use for multi-step orchestration." context: fork globs: [] alwaysApply: false --- # Auto-Continue Mode Disciplined automatic continuation through multi-step tasks. Eliminates unnecessary pauses while preserving mandatory safety gates. --- ## Core Principle > **Auto-continue through unambiguous work. Stop only at real decision points.** --- ## Mandatory Gates (ALWAYS STOP) | Gate | Trigger | What happens | |---|---|---| | **GATE 0 β€” Agora Gate** | Agora outputs `AWAITING_APPROVAL` OR `## πŸ›οΈ Agora Council` synthesis block appears | **HARD STOP.** Do not call any tool, do not continue any todo, do not suggest next steps. Wait for user to type: APPROVE / REQUEST CHANGES / DISCARD. "ok", "yes", "sure", "continue" are NOT valid. | | **GATE 1 β€” Plan Approval** | Athena generates a plan | User confirms scope before code is written | | **GATE 2 β€” Phase Review** | Themis reviews implementation | User sees changes before next phase | | **GATE 3 β€” Git Commit** | After each phase is approved | User controls git history; no auto-commit | > **Agora is always GATE 0**: any response containing `AWAITING_APPROVAL` or a `## πŸ›οΈ Agora Council` block overrides all auto-continue rules. --- ## Auto-Continue Rules **Continue automatically when:** - Next todo is a direct consequence of the current one - Action is reversible (file edits, tests, linting) - Scope is within the approved plan - No new ambiguity has emerged **Stop and ask when:** - A todo requires a decision not covered by the plan - An unexpected error changes the approach - A dependency is missing or broken - A task would exceed remaining `steps` budget --- --- ## Implementation Pattern ``` 1. Create todos for all steps at start 2. Mark first todo in_progress 3. Complete work β†’ mark completed immediately 4. Mark next todo in_progress β†’ repeat 5. Do NOT ask "should I continue?" between clear steps 6. Stop at Gate 1, 2, or 3 7. After gate approval, resume with next todo ``` **Never batch-complete todos.** Mark each completed as soon as done. --- ## Safety Checks Before Continuing - [ ] Previous step completed successfully (tests pass, no errors) - [ ] Next step is within approved plan scope - [ ] No new blocking issues emerged - [ ] `steps` counter has sufficient budget remaining --- ## Cooldown Pattern Between phases, execute a brief synthesis handoff to prevent context drift and prepare the next phase: ### Phase Summary Template ``` Phase N complete. Summary: - What was done: <2 bullet points> - What changed: - What's next: - Will continue: ``` ### Cooldown Rules 1. **Between parallel waves (no dependency):** No cooldown needed β€” wave results are independent 2. **Between sequential waves (with dependency):** Always run cooldown β€” dependencies may have changed context 3. **After Themis review (GATE 2):** Cooldown is mandatory β€” review findings may change the plan 4. **Session reuse check:** Before starting next phase, check if a specialist session from a previous phase can be reused (see session-goal skill) ### Abbreviated Cooldown When auto-continuing between sequential non-gated phases, the cooldown is abbreviated to one line: ``` β†’ Phase N done. Next: Phase N+1. [auto-continuing] ``` Only expand to full cooldown when hitting a mandatory gate. --- ## Timeout & Retry Enforcement When a delegated agent does not respond in time, enforce the timeout policy from routing.yml. ### Behavior by Agent Role | Agent Role | Timeout | Retry Policy | Fallback | Timeout Parcial? | |------------|---------|-------------|----------|------------------| | Explorer (apollo) | 60s | 2 retries, exponential backoff | athena | βœ… Yes β€” partial results OK | | Implementer (hermes, aphrodite) | 180s | 3 retries, exponential backoff | talos | ❌ No β€” must produce artifact | | Reviewer (themis) | 120s | 2 retries, exponential backoff | zeus | ❌ No β€” must produce verdict | | Infrastructure (prometheus) | 300s | 2 retries, exponential backoff | hermes | ❌ No | | Hotfix (talos) | 30s | 1 retry, no backoff | hermes | βœ… Yes β€” one-liner fix OK | ### Timeout Parcial (Partial Results) Timeout parcial is **only** allowed for read-only, independent agents: - βœ… @apollo (codebase search) β€” can return partial file list - βœ… @gaia (literature review) β€” can return partial findings - βœ… @talos (hotfix confirmation) β€” can return without fix if timeout - ❌ Never for implementers (@hermes, @aphrodite, @demeter) β€” must complete or fail - ❌ Never for reviewers (@themis) β€” must produce a verdict **How to signal timeout parcial:** When dispatching, set the expectation explicitly: ``` @apollo Search for all auth-related files. If you hit timeout, return whatever you have found so far β€” partial results are acceptable. ``` ### Timeout Tracking Table Maintain a mental table of in-flight delegations: | Agent | Started | Timeout | Status | Partial OK? | |-------|---------|---------|--------|-------------| | apollo | T+0s | T+60s | βœ… complete | βœ… | | hermes | T+0s | T+180s | ⏳ in progress | ❌ | --- ## Examples **Good (auto-continues):** ``` βœ… Wrote migration file. β†’ Running migration tests... βœ… Tests pass (3/3). β†’ Next: write UserRepository query methods. ``` **Good (stops at Gate 2):** ``` βœ… Phase 1 complete: migration + repository layer. ⏸️ GATE 2 β€” Themis review summary: - Coverage: 87% βœ… | No OWASP issues βœ… Ready for Phase 2? Waiting for go-ahead. ``` **Bad (stops unnecessarily):** ``` βœ… Wrote the migration file. Should I now run the migration tests? [waiting] ``` ## Session Heartbeat Auto-save checkpoint every N turns (configurable, default 5). ### Heartbeat File `.pantheon/deepwork//heartbeat.json` ### Heartbeat JSON Format ```json { "slug": "task-identifier", "last_action": "2026-07-16T20:00:00Z", "turn_count": 10, "current_phase": 2, "status": "alive | warning | stalled | paused | completed", "next_action": "brief description of next planned action" } ``` ### Heartbeat Rules 1. Update every 5 turns minimum (by default) 2. Contains NO context β€” only timestamps and counters 3. Single file, always overwritten (not versioned) 4. Used for quick "is this session alive?" checks --- ## Checkpoint Persistence ### Checkpoint File Structure Each deepwork task maintains: ``` .pantheon/deepwork// β”œβ”€β”€ PLAN.md # Immutable plan (created at start) β”œβ”€β”€ STATUS.md # Human-readable current state (updated every phase) β”œβ”€β”€ heartbeat.json # Lightweight ping (updated every N turns) β”œβ”€β”€ checkpoint-.json # Full state snapshot (created at phase boundaries) β”œβ”€β”€ session.json # Session metadata (created at start, updated on stop) └── REVIEW.md # Final Themis review (created at end) ``` ### Checkpoint JSON Schema ```json { "slug": "string β€” unique task identifier", "phase": "integer β€” current phase number", "turn_count": "integer β€” total turns elapsed", "timestamp": "string β€” ISO 8601 timestamp", "context_hash": "string β€” first 8 hex chars of SHA-256 of STATUS.md", "version": "integer β€” schema version (current: 2)" } ``` ### Checkpoint Rules 1. Save at every phase boundary AND before any delegate dispatch 2. Numbered sequentially (`checkpoint-1.json`, `checkpoint-2.json`, …) 3. Keep last 10 checkpoints; archive older ones 4. On resume: read the highest-numbered checkpoint for full state --- ## Safety Policy Configuration Configurable gates for different platforms and risk levels: | Gate | Default | Auto-Approval Condition | |------|---------|------------------------| | GATE 0 β€” Council/Plan | Always Ask | N/A β€” always requires human | | GATE 1 β€” Plan Approval | Always Ask | Plan matches acceptance criteria + no risks flagged | | GATE 2 β€” Themis Review | Ask by Default | Auto-approve if: Themis APPROVED + no CRITICAL/HIGH issues + coverage β‰₯80% | | GATE 3 β€” Git Commit | Never Auto | N/A β€” always manual | | Deploy | Always Ask | N/A β€” always requires human | | Destructive DB Ops | Always Ask | N/A β€” always requires human | ### Configuration Format (for agents/PLAN.md) ```yaml auto-continue: checkpoint_interval: 5 # turns between checkpoints idle_warning: 60 # seconds before warning idle_stall: 120 # seconds before stall detection idle_pause: 300 # seconds before auto-pause gates: plan_approval: always_ask themis_review: auto_approve_if_clean git_commit: never_auto deploy: always_ask destructive_ops: always_ask ``` ### Idle Detection | Condition | Action | |-----------|--------| | No tool call for 60s | Log warning heartbeat (status: warning) | | No tool call for 120s | Trigger anti-stall protocol | | No tool call for 300s | Auto-save checkpoint and pause session | | Resume | User must acknowledge and restart | --- ## Scope **Applies to:** Zeus (multi-phase), Hermes/Aphrodite/Demeter (TDD cycles), Apollo (parallel searches), Talos (bug fixes). **Does NOT apply to:** Athena planning (always presents plan = Gate 1), Iris (confirms before push), destructive operations (always ask).